CHARLOTTE — Dave Canales likes the intensity his team is bringing during training camp practice. He wants that intensity to define training camp practice. He just needs them to harness it in the right way during training camp practice.

"I don't want them to calm down. I want them to refocus," preached Canales following Tuesday's training camp, in which there was plenty of intensity, but also some of the negative side effects.

Coaches have pushed the Panthers to find that balance, to be able to tap into the passion that will fuel every play, but — as Canales has made a motto — always "come back to us" and don't risk anything spilling over into a penalty.

"I don't want guys relaxed. I want them engaged. It's two different feelings," he continued. "You can't play this game calm. This game is meant to be played at a high clip with intensity and great focus, and that's how — if we can do that as a group, if we can do that as a coaching staff and as a team, to have that type of engagement and focus, that's what we're looking for."

It was a bit of a 180 for Carolina, who began practice with an energy that matched the dreary day hovering over Uptown Charlotte. Canales called everyone to the middle of the field following the first team drill and challenged them to respond. It was a moment indicative of a game, the coach later said, in which a first quarter might not go well. How do they respond?

"I just really wasn't happy with the tempo we were practicing at," Canales explained. "We can chase better, we can cover down better, and we have a standard. The players have a standard. When they're not picking it up and talking to each other, it's my job to make sure that we just get it back on track.

"They did. And then it kind of turned into a little bit over the top," he joked, referring to the two scrums that broke out in the following drill. "But it was worth it. It was worth just taking that moment. There are quarters that way. There are halves that way. We have to find a way to regroup if we don't come out with the right energy. We have to be able to refocus, play to play, drive to drive."

Canales attributed a lot of the emotions to having been in training camp almost two weeks now (typically when most teams find tempers start to flare). Guys are ready to hit someone in a different uniform after essentially being locked in the house for their sibling for too long.

"We've been playing a lot of football against each other. It's getting competitive back and forth. Offense wins one, defense battles back, wins one. People are making plays. Tempers are flaring a little bit, and I just got to remind them, none of that helps us. It throws us out of the rhythm of practice," said Canales.

"When it gets out of hand, that's not focus. If we're not chasing hard enough, that's not focus. We want to be in that zone where we're locked in. One play, this play's over. I lock back in, get the call, and then I go and execute again, and that's the challenge."

The scrums were quick, broken up primarily by Bryce Young and Jaelan Phillips. Those two were an example of the balance Canales wants, though, for the rest of the day. After Canales' speech, Young unlocked a level of "focused anger" typically reserved for fourth-quarter comebacks, a category in which he holds the record for youngest quarterback in NFL history to reach 11 such drives. It showed up on every play the rest of the day, but especially the last.

When Young pulled a fake handoff on said play, only to toss over to a Chuba Hubbard who leaked between the defense for the touchdown, Young turned to the rushing Phillips and, well, politely told him who won that play.

"It's important for Bryce to just be himself and compete the way that he knows how to," said Canales. And as such, it's an example to the whole team.

Canales also recently tapped in one of the greats to help make his point, cueing up a video of Kobe Bryant in a team meeting room, in which the Hall of Famer talked about training for the Olympics.

"He talked about, first it's attacking training camp, and then it's this day, and let's win this drill, and all of a sudden I'm just like I didn't have to say anything," joked Canales.

"I was like, 'OK, he said it, guys, go to your meetings.' And it was just like, that's what we're looking for, that type of intensity."

Pickett and King taking advantage of preseason game

With Young staying in a jumpsuit on the sideline Thursday night, the Panthers will turn to Kenny Pickett to start their first game of the preseason. The veteran passer joined Carolina this spring in free agency, bringing with him experience from the Steelers, Eagles, and Raiders. That experience, both in different systems and different rosters, is something both Canales and the quarterback feel will help on Thursday.

"I would imagine being on several different teams working with several varieties of the depth chart of wide receivers, tight ends, etc., that he's got experience trying to figure guys out pretty quickly," noted Canales. "Different body types, different speed, different profiles. So that's shown up, and he's very comfortable playing with anybody and making sure that they understand what we're trying to get done."

Added Pickett, "I think it's just the different experiences. Like a lot of people do run the same concepts, but people read it differently, or they start somewhere differently. So it's just kind of having that background knowledge of, 'Hey, you know, this place, we went 1-2-3, low to high, high to low, whatever it may be, and just kind of bouncing ideas off each other in the quarterback room and figuring out what works best for us."

While Pickett will start, as Young's primary backup, he likely won't be in long. But after only playing more than 13 snaps in one game last season, it will be an opportunity to stretch things out again.

"Really just see what's going on in practice carried out first time in the stadium against a new team," said Pickett. "I just want to go out there and operate."

When Pickett takes his helmet off for the night, it will be rookie Haynes King that takes over, getting a majority of the snaps. The Georgia Tech star came out of college known as a mobile passer. He put a lot of focus and energy this offseason into improving his status as a pocket passer.

It's shown up in practice, with deep, accurate throws while working with the third-team.

When he does enter the game Thursday, though, Canales is fine if he runs. He wants to see the full version of what King can do in an offense, whatever that may look like.

"For my life, I just want the quarterback to move the chains and move the team," expressed Canales. "Whatever that looks like, I'm good with it. If he takes off and runs five times in a row and we're in the red zone knocking on the door, that's a great drive. If he goes 5 for 5 and completes the ball, finds an explosive and flips the field, I'm good with that too.

"So the fact that Haynes can do that is a great thing. It's very forgiving as you're playing with a different group of guys, a different group of linemen coming in and coming out, a new opponent; the ability to move around as a quarterback is very forgiving."

For King, though, it's about showing the growth he's made mentally and being able to slow down the game, something every NFL quarterback must learn.

"I felt like I've been developing pretty good," said King. "A lot of it is transitioning through progressions, whether it's second, third, or check down. You're moving smoothly through those and knowing where everybody's at, how things progress, and how fast things progress as well.

"I feel like you get better as a quarterback and your completion percentage gets up because you're finding the right guys at the right time and after that, it's just about accuracy."

Injuries being monitored, but nothing serious

A big defensive face was missing on Tuesday, with Derrick Brown not on the field. Brown was still in the building, but was essentially taking a vet day off to take advantage of the window afforded with the upcoming Hall of Fame game in which Brown (or other starters) won't play.

"Just oscillating DB just with his, the way he practices," explained Canales. "He had a great day yesterday. Practiced really hard, general soreness. Let's shut him down. Let's get him on like a one-on-one off program. So just kind of what we had planned."

Xavier Legette also left practice after landing hard on his back following a catch. He was evaluated for a concussion and cleared. They will now evaluate him for a stinger. He wasn't scheduled to play in Thursday's game either, so he will take the days to recover.

Ja'Tavion Sanders was slightly hobbled with an ankle injury at one point. He didn't finish practice. Whether or not he plays Thursday will depend on what trainers discover about the severity of his ankle injury.

"We'll see how the ankle is; we were looking to try to get him out there (Thursday) and see him," Canales admitted, "but we'll see if he's going to be available."

It feels like the Panthers have been hit with a bit of an injury bug through the first couple of weeks of camp. The feeling is punctuated by Nic Scourton tearing his ACL and Chris Brazzell II injuring his LCL. While those are serious, everything beyond that is part of camp, Canales said.

"The NFL," he shrugged when asked what he attributes the dings to. "We could be sitting in a different room in a different city, and we're all dealing with the same type of deal. Things come up, we practice hard, we practice at a good clip, and fortunately for us, we have some time," he pointed out.

"Time is on our side, so we'll just treat these guys. We have them here in the building, and we'll get them back out there when they're ready."

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Every pass-rusher getting an opportunity during camp

With Scourton out for the year, the Panthers know they'll have to find different answers at pass-rush. Phillips, Patrick Jones II and Princely Umanmielen will take the bulk of the work. But Carolina wants to go into the season knowing their depth is fortified.

As such, everyone is getting an opportunity with the first-team right now. On Tuesday alone, Trevis Gipson, Cam Gill, and Thomas Incoom all took reps with the 1's in team drills. Incoom in particular got to the pocket on a play he swore would be a sack in a real game.

The chance to roll those guys in comes both as a way to provide Phillips and Jones a respite and to ensure the depth is there.

"Part of that, and then part of it is just our natural progression with guys like Pat Jones and Jalen Phillips, who are veteran players," explained Canales.

"They play at a high clip, really great effort out of those two. And so, with our days we kind of just say, OK, what was his load the day before? How can we manage that on the following day, which gives us a great opportunity to look at how the other guys look with the rush groups and how they play on first and second down with the first group.

"So great opportunities all across the board."